[Drink inside the box.]
Noble Hill Field Atlas 2021
Noble Hill Field Atlas 2021 Price: $18.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Noble HillCountry: South AfricaRegion: Western CapeAppellation: Simonsberg-Paarl WO Grapes: Syrah (81%), Mourvèdre (11%), Viogner (6%), Grenache (2%)Alcohol by Volume: 12.5%Sugar Content: 2 grams per litre I just wrote a column at The Hub about being a slave to familiarity and the temptation to sticking with wines and winemakers I know. By all accounts most wine consumers are motivated as much, if not more, by the fear of buying a crappy wine…
Abad Dom Bueno Godello 2022
Abad Dom Bueno Godello 2022 Price: $17.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Bodega del AbadCountry: SpainRegion: LeónAppellation: Bierzo DO Grapes: GodelloAlcohol by Volume: 13%Sugar Content: 2 grams per litre The Godello grape has one of those catchy names that works in English. Or, at least for me, it’s partially catchy. I recognize it, then I have to think hard about where it comes from. If I’m on my game, I’ll remember that, despite its Italian sounding name, it’s Spanish, and is…
Il Poggio Aglianico Sannio 2020
Mas des Bressades Rosé 2024
Mas des Bressades Cuvée Tradition Rosé 2024 Price: $19.00Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Mas des BressadesCountry: FranceRegion: Southern Rhône ValleyAppellation: Costières de Nîmes Grapes: Grenache (50%), Syrah (30%), Cinsault (20%)Alcohol by Volume: 13.5%Sugar Content: 2 grams per litre This widely distributed rosé from the mouth of the Rhône River has been a summer stable in my house for many years because it’s a proper rosé in two respects. First, it’s made in the traditional saignée (bleeding) method. This is when…
Cardo White 2023
Cardo White 2023 Price: $16.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Quinta do CardoCountry: PortugalRegion: Castelo RodrigoAppellation: DOC Biera Interior Grapes: SíriaAlcohol by Volume: 12.5%Sugar Content: 2 grams per litre I wrote about Artur Gama at in this piece for The Hub when I met him in Toronto in the fall of 2023. The Lisbon-area winemaker was showing wines from his new, high altitude project further north in the Upper Douro. It was called Cardo for the thistles that grew in the vineyards at…
Lungarotti Torre di Giano 2023
Lungarotti Torre di Giano 2023 Price: $17.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: LungarottiCountry: ItalyRegion: UmbriaAppellation: Torgiano DOC Grapes: Vermentino, Grechetto, Trebbiano (% not revealed)Alcohol by Volume: 12.5%Sugar Content: 2 grams per litre I’ve been to Umbria a handful of times. Only once on a press trip, but it was for olive oil not wine. So, in my travels to Italy’s only landlocked region I have largely been in charge of ordering the wine. I cannot recall ever getting a bottle or…
Château Le Grand Verdus GlouGlou 2020
Château Le Grand Verdus GlouGlou 2020 Price: $15.95 (reduced from $17.95)Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Château Le Grand VerdusCountry: FranceRegion: Bordeaux (Entre-deux-Mers)Appellation: Bordeaux Supériore AOC Grapes: Merlot (80%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%)Alcohol by Volume: 13.5%Sugar Content: 3 grams per litre I don’t know how I missed this wine when it was released a few onths ago, and I don’t why it hasn’t sold out. It’s delicious, very fairly priced (even before the discount), and from one of the world’s most famous…
Kelerei Bozen Pinot Grigio 2023
Kelerei Bozen Pinot Grigio 2023 Price: $21.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Kellerei Bozen (Cantina Produttori Bolzano)Country: ItalyRegion: Alto Adige (Südtirol)Appellation: Alto Adige DOC Grapes: Pinot GrigioAlcohol by Volume: 13.5%Sugar Content: 4 grams per litre The Kellerei Bozen is among the vanguard of Western Europe’s new wave of serious co-operative wineries. It’s members literally grow their grapes on the slopes that form the valleys surrounding Bolzano and they intend to compete with the fine producers that have made the Alto-Adige one…
Argiolas Perdera Monica di Sardegna 2022
Argiolas Perdera Monica di Sardegna 2022 Price: $21.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: ArgiolasCountry: ItalyRegion: SardiniaAppellation: Monica di Sardegna DOC Grapes: MonicaAlcohol by Volume: 13.5%Sugar Content: 3 grams per litre The wine media has not been uniformly kind to Sardinia’s second red grape. The entry for Monica Nera in Robinson, Harding and Vouillamoz’s encyclopedic Wine Grapes (2012) is headlined “Generally undistinguished dark-skinned variety…”. To be fair, it goes onto suggest that the biggest trouble with Monica might be the tenedecy to grow it…
Château Gaillard Beaujolais-Villages 2023
Château Gaillard Beaujolais-Villages 2023 Price: $19.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Sébastien Gutty / Château GaillardCountry: FranceRegion: BeaujolaisAppellation: Beaujolais Villages Grapes: GamayAlcohol by Volume: 12%Sugar Content: 2 grams per litre Graphite is not water soluable, so it has no taste. Therefore it’s not right for me to say that the 2023 Gaillard Beaujolais Villages has a graphite finish, let alone a graphite finish that I associate more with the Cabernet Franc made wines from the Loire Valley than Gamay made Beaujolais.…
Jean Perrier et Fils Cuvée Gastronomie Chignin 2023
Jean Perrier et Fils Cuvée Gastronomie Chignin 2023 Price: $19.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Vins PerrierCountry: FranceRegion: SavoieAppellation: Chignin, Savoie AOC Grapes: JacquèreAlcohol by Volume: 11.5%Sugar Content: 2 grams per litre It’s not until I looked up the tech sheet for the Perrier Chignin that I realized it measures in at only 11.5% alcohol by volume. I would have guess much higher, but not becuase it’s in any way hot or out of balance. The opposite is the case: this…
Castelo di Radda Chianti Classico 2021
Castelo di Radda Chianti Classico 2021 Price: $22.95Channel: LCBO Vintages Producer: Castelo di RaddaCountry: ItalyRegion: TuscanyAppellation: Chianti Classico DOCG (UAG Radda) Grapes: Sangiovese (95%), CanaioloAlcohol by Volume: 14%Sugar Content: N/A – drinks very dry This wine wants grilled steak. Or rather, grilled steak wants this wine. Grilled mushrooms also want this wine. The Sangiovese that makes this wine is grown at 400 meters above sea level, and expresses a fresh red fruit character with a lively acidity a touch…